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opy 1 



The War 

From The Standpoint Of 

The Business Man 



An Address by 

FRANK E. LAW, M.E. 

92 Liberty Street, New York City 

TO 

THE MEN'S CLUB 
OF CHRIST CHURCH, EAST ORANGE, N.J. 




^PH 3C 



February 23, 1918 



jL 



> ^ K° 



Per aspera ad astra. 



And he, shall he, 
Man, her last work, who seem'd so fair, 
Such splendid purpose in his eyes, 
Who roll'd the psalm to wintry skies. 
Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer. 
Who trusted God was love indeed 
And love Creation's final law — 
Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw 
With ravine, shriek'd against his creed — 
Who loved, who suffer'd countless ills. 
Who battled for the True, the Just, 
Be blown about the desert dust. 
Or seal'd within the iron hills? 

— Tennyson — In Memoriam. 



If my body come from brutes, tho' somewhat finer than their own, 

I am heir, and this is my kingdom. Shall the royal voice be mute? 
No, but if the rebel subject seek to drag me from the throne. 

Hold the sceptre, Human Soul, and rule thy Province of the brute. 
I have climb'd to the snows of Age, and I gaze at a field in the Past, 

Where I sank with the body at times in the sloughs of a low desire, 
But I hear no yelp of the. beast, and the Man is quiet at last 

As he stands on the heights of his life with a glimpse of a height that is higher. 

— Tennyson — By An Evolutionist. 



I think it can be shown that the principles of morality have their roots in 
the deepest foundations of the universe, that the cosmic process is ethical in 
the profoundest sense, that in that far-off morning of the world, when the 
stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy, the beauty of self- 
sacrifice and disinterested love formed the chief burden of the mighty theme. 

— John Fiske — Through Nature to God. 



Excelsior. 



The War From The Standpoint 
Of The Business Man 



Mr. President and Members of the Men's Club, 

It is a great pleasure to speak to you tonight. I feel at home 
here. Most of my boyhood and young manhood were spent 
within a stone's throw of this church. I have many pleasant 
memories of my life and my friends here, friends, now alas, 
scattered far and wide, and many of them passed to "the undis- 
cover'd country from whose bourn no traveler returns." 

My friend, Mr. Eddy, asked me to speak to you on the war. 
He further desired me to state the title of my talk. As I have 
been in business all of my adult life, I chose as the title — "The 
War from the Standpoint of the Business Man." 

A business man's activities and interests nowadays are 
broader in scope than the details of the trade or industry by 
which he makes his living. New horizons have opened to him. 
No longer is he concerned simply with his right to buy in the 
cheapest market and sell in the dearest. He is concerned also 
with those social arrangements which make for the well-being 
and happiness of the greater number. In part this has come 
from the increased responsibility and increasing responsibility 
every man feels for the welfare of others, from the growth of 
altruism and the decline of egoism, from the development of 
other-regarding faculties and the weakening of the self-regarding 
faculties, and in part from the pressure applied by society to the 
business man in the form of public opinion and legislation. Now 
as never before in the life of man an affirmative answer is given 
to the question — "Am I my brother's keeper?" 

Going back to the early evolution of living organisms, we 
find an entire absence of other-regarding faculties. Each single- 
celled organism was for itself alone. The entrance of multi- 
celled organisms on the scene brought into existence other-regard- 
ing faculties. There came into being the principle of cooperation. 
The cells could not exist as a colony unless each member of the 
colony cooperated with the other members of the colony. Not 
that there was conscious cooperation, for mind and consciousness 
seem not to exist, so far as we know, apart from a nervous system. 
As the evolution of living organisms proceeded, there began to be 
cooperation among individuals of the multi-celled type. A 
striking example is the coral organism, forming colonies which 
build great reefs. Higher in the scale of life, we find ants, bees, 
and wasps living in colonies and cooperating in a manner that 
may truly be described as socialistic. We find dogs and wolves 
living in packs and hunting together, deer and cattle and sheep 



and horses living in herds. There is no longer a war 5 outrance 
between individuals of the same race, no longer a struggle for 
existence in which self-regarding faculties alone control, but 
instead there is to a considerable extent mutuality and coopera- 
tion. In all cases, be it observed, the cooperation is more ex- 
tensive and complete the higher and greater is the intelligence. 

The same process has been at work in the evolution of human 
society. The original unit was the family. Families formed 
clans or tribes. Tribes developed into states and states into 
nations. Always the development has been away from that 
primal state of existence in which the individual stood alone, did 
everything for himself, and fought for himself alone. Always 
the development has been toward wider and wider cooperation. 

Note the feature of the process of evolution that nothing 
came into existence on the subjective side till there was something 
on the objective side in existence to call it into being. The sense 
of touch was brought into existence by the existence of objects 
that were touched; the sense of hearing was developed by the 
vibrations of the air; the sense of sight by light; the husband's 
care by the dependence of his wife; the mother's love by the needs 
of her child; truth, honor, justice, by the needs of society. 

Another feature of the process has been pointed out by A. 
J. Hubbard who has shown in "The Fate of Empires" that the 
successive steps in the methods of maintaining life in the advance 
from protozoon to man have been — 

1. Reflex action. 

2. Reflex action plus instinct. 

3. Reflex action plus instinct plus reason. 

4. Reflex action plus instinct plus reason plus religious 
motive. 

Some will prefer perhaps to substitute ethics in the series for 
religious motive but in the largest sense religious motive and 
ethics are one. 

Coming now to the development of government in human 
society, we find that the primitive arrangement was autocratic. 
Early fathers, because the strongest members of the family, 
had power of life and death in their families. There was none to 
say them nay. The chief of a tribe had unlimited power. So 
also the early kings were autocrats. Later there arose aristoc- 
racies in which a relatively few men wielded the power, instead of 
an autocrat, and later still democracies in which the power is 
resident in the people. A national democracy is a modern de- 
velopment, the latest development in the evolution of govern- 
ment. It is true that the communities of Greece were self- 
governed, but the separate states did not attain to a national life. 
There might have been a wonderful development had not Greece 
been crushed. 

Under autocratic and aristocratic forms of government, the 
few men who exercise control soon make arrangements which 



conduce to their own interest and which are adverse to the in- 
terests of the people at large. Hence the experience of mankind 
has led it to seek to take power and control out of the hands of 
the few and lodge it in the hands of the many. Science has been 
a powerful factor in making a national democracy possible. It 
may well be doubted whether in the absence of the railroad, 
the steamboat, the telegraph, and the printing press, a national 
democracy could long exist. Without quick means of comuni- 
cation, which bring about community of interest, identity of 
interest, and interlocking interests, a national democracy would 
diverge into conflicting interests and break up. 

The whole course of evolution in human society has thus 
been toward a national democracy as the type of government 
which furnishes the most adequate guarantees of "life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness" for the people at large, which 
makes possible the largest cooperation among the members of 
the community, and which ensures the most certain application 
of the injunction, "Do unto others as you would have them do 
unto you." 

Democracy has had a hard road to travel. It comes into 
conflict with the privileged classes who have ever sought to 
destroy it. The desire for power, for wealth, for ease, for enjoy- 
ment, are innate in the heart of man. These things can only be 
obtained in fullest measure at the expense of others. 

It is because one nation, Germany, determined to have 
these things at the expense of others that the world is convulsed 
by war. Autocracy and aristocracy are making what it is to be 
hoped is their last attack on democracy. This is the true mean- 
ing of the great struggle. 

There is much talk of peace, peace on almost any basis, 
peace that will stop the terrible slaughter that is going on, peace 
that will save the world from bankruptcy. It is said that 
neither side can win, that the best which can be hoped for is a 
draw, that nothing can be gained by continuing the war. To 
such we must say resolutely — The war must go on. The fate 
of the world for centuries is hanging in the balance. The war 
must go on till Germany is beaten to her knees, till autocracy 
and aristocracy are crushed, and democracy is triumphant. To 
end the war by a negotiated peace with Germany will be the 
triumph of Germany, will be the rehabilitation of autocracy 
and aristocracy, will result only in an armed truce and a renewal 
of the struggle as soon as the Central Empires are able to renew 
their strength. The war must end only by the victory of the 
Entente Allies over Germany. We know at what dreadful cost 
that victory will be won, but for democracy there is no choice, it 
must win, or itself perish. For democracy to fail to fight the war 
out would be a betrayal of all the highest interests of humanity. 
This war is more than a war, it is a crusade. 

There are many who seek to cloud the issue. We are told 
that the war is one of the recurring crises in the conflict between 



races, that it is a battle to determine whether the Anglo-Saxon or 
the German shall dominate the world, that it is a struggle between 
conflicting financial interests. There is partial truth in all these 
statements, but the deep, underlying truth is that the war is a 
conflict between the privileged classes and the masses, between 
those who hold they have a God-given right to rule and those who 
hold that every man has a God-given right to decide his own 
destiny, between the forces of wrong and of right. It is a fight 
between reaction and progress, between mediaevalism and 
modernism. It is Reversion seeking to drag Evolution in the 
mud. 

It is for us who have seen the Star of Democracy to press on, 
never faltering, however great the sacrifice and stern the struggle, 
till democracy has won the day and opened a new era for man- 
kind. 

Stop and think what Germany stands for. 

She stands for a government of men and against a govern- 
ment of laws. 

She asserts that might makes right and that right does not 
make might. 

She proclaims that there is no morality in the cosmic process. 

She insists that the strongest are the fittest, that the 
Darwinian theory proves Nature's intent to have survive those 
who are able to conquer and kill all others. 

She preaches that the moral law does not apply to the State, 
that it is moral for the State, in fact the duty of the State, to do 
whatever inures to the benefit of the State, whatever enables the 
State to win and to crush competing States. 

She inculcates in her people the duty of doing whatever the 
State tells them to do, however abhorrent the things the State 
tells them to do may be to their private and personal morality. 

She affirms that aggressive war is noble, is necessary to main- 
tain the strength, the vigor, and spirit of a people, and should be 
waged to extend the power and territories of the State. 

She contends that a policy of frightfulness is warranted 
because of its effect in breaking down the spirit of her enemies. 

She maintains that treaties and international law at once 
become of no validity when war is declared. 

She avers that small nations have no rights when such rights 
conflict with the interests of large nations. 

She declares that the German people are the salt of the earth 
without which the earth had lost its saviour and as such are en- 
titled to supersede and rule over all other peoples, to dominate 
Europe and the world. 

She asseverates that German culture is the highest culture 
and should and must supplant the cultures of all other peoples. 

These are monstrous contentions. To such have autocracy 
and aristocracy come. But they are eminently suited to the 
purpose of a nation that has decided on a predatory course. 
They have become a religion to Germany. 



Let us examine first the contention that there is no morality 
in the cosmic process. If that be a fact, we may admit many of 
the other contentions. But it is not a fact. Shakespeare is not 
generally thought of as a scientist but with the unerring insight 
ever his characteristic he gives us the key to the reply to this 
contention. In "The Winter's Tale," there occurs this col- 
loquy — 

Perdita [To Polixenes.] Sir, welcome 
It is my father's will, I should take oa me 

The hostess-ship o' the day: — [To Camillo.] You're welcome, sir. — 
Give me those flowers there, Dorcas. — Reverend sirs. 
For you there's rosemary, and rue; these keep 
Seeming and savour all the winter long: 
Grace and remembrance be to you both, 
And welcome to our shearing! 

Polixenes. Shepherdess, 
(A fair one are you,) well you fit our ages 
With flowers of winter. 

Perdita. Sir, the year growing ancient, — 
Not yet on summer's death, nor on the birth 
Of trembling winter, — the fairest flowers o' the season 
Are our carnations, and streak'd gilliflowers. 
Which some call nature's bastards: of that kind 
Our rustic garden's barren, and I care not 
To get slips of them. 

Polixenes. Wherefore, gentle maiden, 
Do you neglect them? 

Perdita. For I have heard it said. 
There is an art which in their piedness shares 
With great creating nature. 

Polixenes. Say, there be; 
Yet nature is made better by no mean. 
But nature makes that mean ; so, o'er that art. 
Which you say adds to nature, is an art 
That nature makes. You see, sweet maid, we marry 
A gentler scion to the wildest stock. 
And make conceive a bark of baser kind 
By bud of nobler race: This is an art 
Which does mend nature, — change it rather; but 
The art itself is nature. 

In a word, everything in the universe is part and parcel of 
nature and of the cosmic process. Man is not separate and apart 
from nature, but is as much a part of nature as any of the other 
phenomena of nature. It is true that there was no morality in 
nature prior to the advent of man, that there is no morality in 
nature apart from man. In the struggle for existence, goodness 
and badness have nothing to do with survival, it is adaptability 
to environment that controls, and the wicked sinner may flourish 
like the green bay tree while the pious saint perishes. But the 
process which Darwin denominated "natural selection," and 
which Spencer called "survival of the fittest," is only a part of 
the cosmic process. Certainly natural selection has no relation 



to moral ends, but it does not follow that the cosmic process taken 
in its entirety has no relation to moral ends. There are other 
forces at work in the cosmic process besides natural selection. 
One of these forces is morality, which stands higher in the evolu- 
tionary scale than natural selection, and is destined ultimately to 
play a larger part in the further evolution of man than is natural 
selection. Natural selection operates blindly by means of 
positive checks, but with the rise of intelligence and morality, 
the possibility of conscious evolution arrives, and conscious 
evolution will operate by prudential checks. Intelligence guided 
by religious motive or ethics will mold the future development of 
man. 

The German leaders of thought have been oblivious to this 
great truth. They are seeking to oppose the development of man 
on this higher plane by keeping man on the lower plane. They 
are attempting to block the further evolution of man on the 
plane of morality. Natural selection with national selfishness 
as the supreme law is their ideal and is opposed to the ideal of 
conscious evolution ruled by morality. 

It should be noted that the possession of intelligence and the 
exercise of that intelligence have at length put man in a position 
to modify his environment. This is a recent development in the 
history of man. Consider the one matter of control over disease. 
Formerly epidemics swept over the world and decimated popula- 
tions. That condition is gone forever. New discoveries in be- 
wildering succession are giving man increasing power over his 
environment. See how extraordinarily this affects natural 
selection. Formerly the environment was fixed and was not 
subject to the control of man or alteration by man. Like every 
other organism man had to adapt himself to his environment or 
perish. But now man is acquiring the power to reverse the 
process and in an essential degree adapt the environment to 
himself. This new development is in itself enough to show that 
the Germans are wrong in their idea that natural selection is, 
on the present plane of evolution, the sole, determining factor 
in survival. 

Fortunately for mankind, a sufficient number of mankind 
have evolved to the higher plane to ensure the defeat of the 
German attempt to hold mankind on the lower plane. The 
peoples of the world for the most part reason on the plane of 
morality and have perceived the essential moral nature of the 
struggle and are resolved to maintain their place on the higher 
plane and resist to the uttermost the German attempt to drag 
them down to the lower plane. The German people and the 
pro-German peoples do not recognize the fact, and are debarred 
by their natures from recognizing it as yet because they stand on a 
lower plane, that those who are fighting against Germany are 
fighting not alone for themselves, but for the German people 
and the pro-German peoples, that they too may attain release 

10 



from the shackles of autocracy and attain freedom to rise to the 
higher plane and develop thereon. 

We must therefore be patient under the stress yet a little 
while and oppose all efforts to bring about a peace that leaves 
Germany unconquered and able to renew the struggle at a later 
day. We must fight on till the great ideal of democracy is 
realized and all mankind are given freedom to develop on the 
plane of morality. We must do this or we shall be recreant to 
the highest interests of the race. 

The German idea is also opposed in the largest sense to the 
cooperative principle which has been growing and expanding as 
the evolution of man has proceeded. The Germans would 
limit cooperation to the members of each race among themselves 
and deny cooperation between races. This attempt to stay 
progress cannot succeed. The peoples of the earth have seen 
the advantage of cooperation and will not have it denied to them. 
There is room and need for contributions to the commonwealth 
of culture from all peoples and all races, none are sufficient to 
themselves, all need help and assistance on the steep road to 
perfection. 

It is difficult to be patient with the idea that the German 
race is the finest and best race on the earth and that its culture 
is supreme over all other cultures. 

The Germans have proceeded on the theory that if a thing 
is said often enough it will finally obtain currency as the truth. 
Possibly that is so with the unthinking. 

It needs but a little investigation, however, to ascertain 
that the German contentions have no warrant in fact. The 
contributions of Great Britain, France, Italy, and America 
to civilization have been far and away greater than the contribu- 
tions of Germany. 

Test the thing for yourselves. Draw up a balance sheet, 
setting down in the one column the achievements of Great 
Britain, France, Italy, and America, the great exponents of 
democracy, and in the adjacent column the achievements of 
Germany, the great exponent of autocracy, cast up the account, 
and strike a balance. 

Start out with a balance sheet of the relative achievements in 
science. List the achievements of the several countries in the 
various sciences — mathematics, astronomy, physics (natural 
philosophy), botany, zoology, biology, geology, chemistry, 
medicine, etc. Where did the theory of gravitation originate 
and where was it founded on a mathematical basis? From what 
countries did our full knowledge of light come? Who worked 
out the theory of acoustics? Who founded the science of chemis- 
try (including the atomic theory)? Whence came the thermo- 
dynamic theory? Where did we get our knowledge of electricity? 
Who developed the theory of radioactivity? Who originated 
the germ theory of disease? Who ascertained _ the origin of 
species and developed the theory of evolution in the organic 

11 



world? Where were the modern theories of molecular physics 
established? Who established the periodic law and made 
chemistry a predictive science? Who have made the great 
geographical discoveries? Who discovered the North Pole? 
the South Pole? Etc., etc. Make a detailed study of these 
things. 

Turn to inventions. In what countries originated the steam 
engine, the railroad, the locomotive, the T-rail, the steam-boat, 
the iron ship, armored ships, the screw propeller, the steam 
turbine, the electric dynamo, the electric motor, the electric light, 
the telegraph, the telephone, the ocean cable, the method of pro- 
ducing steel, machine tools, the cotton gin, the power loom, the 
sewing machine, the submarine, the aeroplane, the phonograph, 
high explosives, anaesthetics, wireless telegraphy, the reaping 
machine, photography, the aniline dye, the acetylene light, 
the safety lamp, the telescope, antiseptics, vaccination, diph- 
theria serum, hydrophobia serum, control of yellow fever, 
vulcanized rubber, corporations of limited liability, etc., etc. 

Germany appropriates and uses the inventions of others, 
she originates little. She is a country of mechanics, not in- 
ventors. An autocracy is "great in organization — which is 
purely to further its own interests — and conspicuously lacking in 
originality — which is for the world at large." 

Turn to literature. What names in Germany are com- 
parable in number and quality to those of England, Scotland, 
France, and Italy? 

In measuring the relative abilities of peoples, what better 
means can be employed than to count the number of men of 
genius produced per million of population? Tested in this way, 
where does Germany stand compared with Great Britain, France, 
and America? What Germany has done has been done largely 
by plodding industry, not by flights of genius. Germany has not 
been a country fruitful with great ideas, it has been a country of 
infinite detail. 

A fair showing can be made for Germany in certain branches 
of chemistry, medicine, and surgery. But even here the achieve- 
ments on the whole have not been of as high an order as the 
achievements of Great Britain, France, and America. What 
are the names of men that Germany has produced that rank as 
high in achievement as Pasteur and Lister? 

Some will contend that Germany ranks high in philosophy. 
But is not German philosophy relatively barren and useless be- 
cause its exponents have let their heads get in the clouds and their 
feet off the ground, have failed to test their ideas of the unknow- 
able by comparison with the things that are known, have not 
advanced our knowledge one whit in respect to the noumena 
underlying phenomena? In the exegesis of final causes we are 
no forwarder because of their work. 

And how has Germany helped the cause of constitutional 
liberty? 

12 



There remain music and art. It is the fashion to set German 
music on a pedestal and to ascribe to it marvelous quaHties. 
But is not much German music less music than it is musical 
gymnastics? Emphasis is put on the mechanism and not on 
the music per se. The fundamental error underlying much 
German music is that it addresses its appeal to the intellect and 
not to the emotions. And the primary and fundamental purpose 
of all art is to awaken the emotions. Italian and French music 
are of a much higher quality, because saner and because appealing 
directly to the emotions, than is German music. 

German art is in the main crude, ugly, barbaric, brutal. It 
is heavy and clumsy, and has none of the lightness and grace of 
French and Italian art. Painting, sculpture, and architecture 
have flourished in far greater degree and have reached a higher 
development in other countries than in Germany. 

Finally we come to efficiency. It seems to be supposed that 
kultur, organized efficiency, is greater in Germany than any- 
where else. This supposition appears to rest on two things — 
first, that Germany won the early battles of the war, second, 
that there was superior order, speed, and method in doing things 
in that country prior to the war. Well, it is not surprising that 
Germany had the early successes in the war, she made the attack, 
she was prepared and had been preparing for a great many years 
and the Allies were not prepared, and she was operating on 
interior lines, a great advantage. But now Great Britain and 
France have done in a few years what it required Germany many 
years to do. The efficiency they have developed has far out- 
distanced that of Germany. As to the efficiency prior to the 
war, it is far easier to secure order, speed, and method under an 
autocratic system than under a democratic system. But under 
the autocratic system the efficiency is of the machine order, under 
the democratic system it is spiritual. Culture is better than 
kultur. Liberty and freedom are better than material benefits. 
"Man does not live by bread alone." What is efficiency without 
humanity? 

In this war the culture of democracy is contending with the 
kultur of autocracy. Examining the achievements of culture 
as contrasted with the achievements of kultur, is there any 
difficulty in concluding that culture has contributed more to 
civilization than kultur? In its final terms, kultur would 
make the life of man like the life in the hive and in the ant-hill. 
Regimentation would become complete. 

The German ruling classes contend that under their system 
of industry and social insurances — workmen's compensation, 
sickness insurance, old-age pensions, and unemployment in- 
surance — the masses are better off and better provided for and 
have a more satisfactory life than in any other country. 

Let us see how some observers at close range view the 
workings of the system. 

13 



Price Collier says, in "Germany and the Germans," Chapter 
IX, "German Problems," — 

"In the early days of the empire Germany undertook to deal 
"with these social problems. The German Empire took over 
"some of the principles of socialism, but retained, and retains 
"absolutely, the power of applying those principles. Bismarck 
"himself admitted that his advocacy of the industrial insurance 
"laws was selfish. 'My idea was to bribe the working classes, or 
" 'shall I say to win them over, to regard the state as a social 
" 'institution existing for their sake and interested in their wel- 
" 'fare.' Whatever else may have resulted, discontent, whether 
"well-founded or not is not now under discussion, has not been 
"lessened. In 1912 more than one-half of the electors voted 
" 'discontented' as over against the less than one-half who voted 
" 'contented.' The mass of the people may be better clothed, 
"better fed, better housed, better cared for in sickness and in old 
"age, than formerly, but they are not satisfied. No state can go 
"much further than Germany has gone along the lines of state 
"interference, guidance, and control of the personal affairs of its 
"people, and nothing is more surprising about the whole matter 
"than the general acceptance in America and in England of such 
"legislation as having proved altogether successful. I doubt 
"if any intelligent German considers these various pension 
"schemes as altogether successful. I can vouch for it that many 
"German statesmen make no such claims in private, whatever 
"they may say in public. 



"It is becoming increasingly evident that the logical result of 
"state charity, or call it state insurance to avoid controversy, 
"over a large field, and including millions of beneficiaries and 
"claimants, is that the army of officials, the expenses of adminis- 
"tration, and the payments themselves must sooner or later break 
"the back of the state morally, politically, and financially. It 
"rapidly increases parasitism among the receivers; makes a 
"powerful though indifferent army of state servants of the dis- 
"tributers; and loses financially to the state far more in expense 
"of administration, and loss of useful labor of the army of civil 
"servants, than it gains by the loss to the state of individual 
"incapacity resulting in pauperism and invalidism, which must be 
"cared for. To put it briefly, it is far more dangerous to the 
"state to tell the individual that he shall be taken care of than 
"to tell him that he must shift for himself. As for the effect 
"upon the individual, it is a lowering medicine, making the 
"patient gradually dependent upon the drug, and bringing him 
"finally to the incurable invalidism of surly apathy. To change 
"Patrick Henry's fiery peroration slightly: Give me liberty or in 
"the end you give me moral and political death. 



14 



"The cry of 'discontent' has become a fetich among un- 
"thinking politicians. We are all, thank God, discontented, and 
"a poor lot we should be if we were not. The workingman's 
"discontent has been over-emphasized, for the reason that what 
"he demands is material, ponderable, for sale, easy to see, and not 
"far out of the reach of one's hand. He wants more rooms, 
"more meat, more tobacco, more beer, more leisure. I am 
"glad he does want them, and let me say just once, in answer to 
"my detractors along these lines, that the workingman has no 
"heartier champion than am I. I applaud his discontent just as I 
"cherish my own, for 'it is precisely this that keeps us all alive!' 
"It is just because I wish him well that every ounce of my in- 
"fluence and experience are his, to open his eyes to the dema- 
"gogues who fatten upon him, fool him, rope him, throw him and 
"brand him, as they have done in Germany, as they are attempt- 
"ing to do in England, and as they will shortly begin to do in 
"America. State socialism means slavery for him, with an army 
"of officials living on him. He will be given so much bread, 
"and beer, and meat, and tobacco; so much music, theatre, and 
"literature; and there will grow up an army whose business it will 
"be to keep him in order, and to cut him down if he revolts, as 
"was done by the police in one of the suburbs of Berlin not long 
"ago. The German workman is already so entangled in the 
"ropes of insurance, so harried by petty officials, so branded by 
"the police, and he has permitted to increase such a host of 
"guardians, that revolt or revolution is practically impossible. 
"Counting the army, navy, and officials, there are said to be three 
"million officials, great and small in Germany; and there are 
"fourteen million electors, or, roughly, one policeman to every five 
"adults. And those three million policemen, armed with lethal 
"and legal weapons, are inflexibly and unalterably for no change. 
"Does the workingman ever stop to think that those officials 
"draw salaries amounting to something like $1,200,000,000 a 
"year, and is he still fool enough to think that he does not pay 
"those salaries to these slave-drivers! I have said that the 
"population is well fed, well clothed, and well looked after. Of 
"course they are. No slave-owner so maltreats his slaves that 
"they cannot work for him! But is man fed by bread alone, even 
"in the sugared form of music and theatricals? 

"If the socialist Pygmalion ever succeeds in bringing his 
"statue to Ufe, how she will scorn him, hate his suffocatnig 
"environment, wish for the wealth and softness he cannot give, 
"desert him, begging to return to her marble tomb again. 

"Long life to discontent, say I ; but is the workingman such a 
"fool that his eyes are not opened when a man of Bismarck's 
"way of thinking, when an autocrat like the Emperor, have 
"favored state socialism! Does he not see that socialism is the 
"neatest hangman of them all to strangle his discontent! Does 
"he not see the demagogue gradually assuming the features and 
"the powers of the tyrant! Tyranny is not alone the prerogative 

15 



"of an aristocracy. 'It is the place of a court to make its servants 
" 'insignificant. If the people should fall into the same humor, 
" 'and should choose their servants on the same principles of mere 

'obsequiousness and flexibility, and total vacancy and indiffer- 
" 'ence of opinion in all public matters, then no party of the state 

'will be sound, and it will be vain to think of saving it.' Thus 
"writes Burke, the champion of our American revolt against his 
"own country. The electors, now so flattered by the smooth 
"phrases of their tyrants disguised as liberators, will one day be 
"aghast to find themselves in a veritable house of correction 
"paid for from their own savings. They will have learnt 
"then, at last, that you cannot get rid of the fools who are rich 
"by deceiving the fools who are poor; and corporalism will be 
"found to be a harsher, fussier, a more meddlesome and a more 
"indifferent tyrant than even feudalism." 

Ambassador Gerard says in "My Four Years in Germany" — 
"The workingmen in the cities are hard workers and prob- 
"ably work longer and get less out of life than any workingmen 
"in the world. The laws so much admired and made ostensibly 
"for their protection, such as insurance against unemployment, 
"sickness, injury, old age, etc., are in reality skilful measures 
"which bind them to the soil as effectively as the serfs of the 
"Middle Ages were bound to their masters' estates." (Chapter 
VII, "The System," page 124.) 

"The German workingman, undoubtedly the most exploited 
"and fooled workingman in the world, is compelled not only to 
"work for low wages and for long hours, but to purchase his food 
"at rates fixed by the German tariff made for the benefit of the 
"Prussian junkers and landowners." (Chapter XIII, "Mainly 
Commercial," page 269.) 

Even in Germany there began to be a realization that their 
system of social insurances was having bad effects. In an address 
delivered before the general session of the Association of German 
Iron Industries at Diisseldorf, March 24, 1912, Ludwig Bernhard, 
Professor of Political Science at the University of Berlin, said, 
inter alia — 

"Formerly it was held in Germany to be manly and ex- 
"emplary not to allow one's self to be crushed to earth by the 
"misfortunes of life. The reserve power slumbering in man was 
"to be brought into action to conquer by ignoring such ills and by 
"becoming accustomed to them. Now physicians report that 
"this virtue frequently flourishes only outside the working classes. 
"They tell of merchants, employers, engineers, ofhcials, scholars, 
"and artists who discharge their callings, even though they must 
"bear the burden of sickness and trouble, and who even strength- 
"en their energy by conquering their obstacles and prove them- 
"selves capable of distinguished services. 

"I am far from asserting that this virtue, and this strength 
"of character, cannot be found among workmen, but it can no 

16 



"longer be doubted that tJwse potent qiialities are imperilled for 
"the great bulk of tJw population, since in the consciousness of the 
"masses there is a living conviction that every illness and every 
"accident rnust lead to a pension claim if only one's physical 

"condition is carefully observed 

"These are secondary tendencies which have increased to 
"such an extent that it is high time to speak openly about them. 
"We must clearly recognize that our beneficent institutions of 
"social policy are a blessing only if their dangers are known and 
"combatted. If, on the other hand, a mode of management is 
"chosen at the dictation of terror of conflict and fear of the 
"masses, then the means designed to make men stronger and 
"happier will ultimately lead to the impairment and enfeebling 
"of our nation." — "The Future of Social Policy in Germany." 
(Translated from Slahl und Risen, Vol. XXXII, pp. 641-649 
April 18, 1912.) 

Thoroughly to consider the matter of compulsory social 
insurances in all their bearings and effects on the social fabric 
would require too extended an examination for us to undertake 
tonight. We should need to inquire into (1) their effect on the 
race. The biological aspect, (2) their effect on the character of 
the people, and (3) their ultimate destructive effect on political 
liberty. Enough has been said, however, to indicate that taken 
all in all they harm the workmen more than they help them. 

In closing, I wish to thank you for this opportunity to speak 
to you and to thank you for bearing with me so patiently while 
I have sought to set out what I conceive to be the true meaning 
of this great struggle in which with our Allies we are engaged. 

And I wish also once more to emphasize the great duty of the 
present hour — to stand fast, to refuse a negotiated peace with 
Germany, to fight till complete victory over Germany is won, 
and democracy is triumphant and autocracy and aristocracy cast 
down. We must choose which shall rule in the world — the 
"will to love" or the "will to power." Evolution and ethics 
point to the "will to love," reversion and reaction to the "will to 
power." Can there be any doubt what our choice must be? 
Germany as she exists to-day must be destroyed or she will 
destroy civilization. 

I have here a list of books that any of you who wish to 
continue your studies into the questions I have discussed may 
take if you desire. 

A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1. 'The Menace OF Peace," by George D.Herron. Mitchell Kennerly, 
New York. 

2. "Social Progress AND THE Darwinl\n Theory. A Study of Force 
AsfA Factor in Human Relations," by George Nasmyth. G. P. Putnam's 
Sons, New York. 

3. "Headquarters Nights," by Vernon L. Kellogg. Atlantic Monthly 
Press, Boston, Mass. 

17 



4. "Germany and the Next War," by General Friedrich von Bem- 
hardi. Charles A. Eron, New York. 

5. "Germany and England," by J. A. Cramb. E. P. Dutton & Co., 

New York. 

6. "Gems (?) of German Thought. An Anthology of the German 
War Scriptures." Compiled by William Archer. Doubleday, Page & Co., 
New York. 

7. "Out of Their Own Mouths. Utterances of German Rulers, 
Statesmen, Savants, Publicists, Journalists, Poets, Business Men, 
Party Leaders, and Soldiers." Introduction by William Roscoe Thayer. 
D. Apple ton & Co., New York. 

8. "Hurrah and Hallelujah. The Teaching of Germany's Poets, 
Prophets, Professors, and Preachers. A Documentation," by J. P. 
Bang, D.D. George H. Doran Company, New York. 

9. "British and German Ideals. The Meaning of the War." 
Reprint from September, 1914, and Mcirch, 1915, numbers of "The Round 
Table." 

10. "Report of the Bryce Commission on Alleged German 
Outrages." The MacMillan Company, New York. 

11. "German Atrocities. An Official Investigation," by J. H. 
Morgan. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 

12. "Germany's Violations of the Laws of War, 1914-15. Com- 
piled Under the Auspices of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs." 
G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 

13. "German War Practices." The Committee on Public Informa- 
tion, Washington, D. C. 

14. "Frightfulness in Retreat." Hodder & Stoughton, New York. 

15. "Their Crimes. Translated from the French." Cassell & 
Co., New York. 

16. "Reports on the Treatment by the Germans of British 
Prisoners and Natives in German East Africa." British White Book, 
No. 13 (1917). H. M. Stationery Office, London, England. 

17. "Fighting for Peace," by Henry Van Dyke. Charles Scribner's 
Sons, New York. 

18. "My Four Years in Germany," by James W. Gerard. George 
H. Doran Co.. New York. 

19. "A Journal from Our Legation in Belgium," by Hugh Gibson. 
Doubleday, Page & Co., New York. 

20. "Alsace-Lorraine under German Rule," by Charles Downer 
Hazen. Henry Holt & Co., New York. 

21. "Germany and the Germans," by Price Collier. Charles Scrib- 
ner's Sons, New York. 

22. "When Blood is Their Argument. An Analysis of Prussian 
Culture," by Ford Madox Hueffer. Hodder & Stoughton, New York. 

23. "A Search Light on Germany. Germany's Blunders, Crimes, 
and Punishment," by Dr. William T. Hornaday. American Defense Society, 
New York. 

24. "The American Verdict on the War: A Reply to the Appeal 
TO the Civilized World of 93 German Professors," by Samuel Harden 
Church, President Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh. The Norman, Remington 
Co., Baltimore, Md. 

25. "Physics and Politics, or Thoughts on the Application of the 
Principles of Natural Selection and Heredity to Political Society," 
by Walter Bagehot. D. Appleton & Co., New York. 

18 



26. "The Data of Ethics," by Herbert Spencer. D. Appleton & Co., 
New York. 

27. "Through Nature to God," by John Fiske. In three parts: 
The Mystery of Evil, The Cosmic Roots of Love and Self- Sacrifice, and 
The Everlasting Reality of Religion. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, Mass. 
[This book is the third of a series. The series is — (a) The Destiny of Man 
in the Light of His Origin, (b) The Idea of God as Affected by Modern Knowl- 
edge, (c) Through Nature to God, (d) Life Everlasting.] 

28. "The Social Problem. A Constructive Analysis," by Charles 
A. Ellwood. The MacMillan Co., New York. 

29. "Social Evolution," by Benjamin Kidd. The MacMillan Co., 
New York. 

30. "Principlesof Western Civilization," by Benjamin Kidd. The 
MacMillan Co., New York. 

3L "The Passing of the Great Race, or The Racial Basis of 
European History, ' ' by Madison Grant. Charles Scribner 's Sons, New York . 

32. "Mankind: Racial Values and the Racial Prospect," by 
Seth K. Humphrey. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 

33. "The Fate of Empires, Being an Inquiry into the Stability of 
Civilization," by Arthur John Hubbard, M. D. Longmans, Green & Co., 
New York. 

34. "The English-Speaking Peoples: Their Future Relations and 
Joint International Obligations," by George Louis Beer. The Mac- 
Millan Co., New York. 

35. "The Elements of International Law, With an Account 
of its Origin, Sources, and Historical Development," by George B. 
Davis. Harper & Bros., New York. 

36. "Evolution, The Master-Key. A Discussion of the Principle 
of Evolution as Illustrated in Atoms, Stars, Organic Species, Mind, 
Society, and Morals," by C. W. Saleeby, M. D. Harper & Bros., New York. 

37. "The Social Policy of Bismark, a Critical Study with a 
Comparison of German and English Insurance Legislation," by Annie 
Ashley. Longmans, Green & Co., New York. 

38. "The Road Toward Peace," by Charles W. Eliot. Especially 
Chapter XIII, "National Efficiency Best Developed Under Free 
Governments." Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, Mass. 

39. "Concerning German Culture," by Brander Matthews. The 
New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol. I, No. 3, January 
9, 1915, page 541. 

40. "The Descent OF Man," by Charles Darwin. D. Appleton & Co., 
New York. 

41. "The Danger of Peace Discussion," by Samuel Harden Church, 
President the Carnegie Institute. Letter in New York Times, February 17, 
1918. 

42. "Parenthood and Race Culture. An Outline of Eugenics," 
by Caleb Williams Saleeby, M. D. Moffat, Yard & Co., New York. 

43. "When the Prussians came to Poland," by Laura de Turcyzno- 
wicz. G. p. Putnam's Sons, New York. 

44. "Two War Years in Constantinople. Sketches of German 
and Young Turkish Ethics and Politics," by Dr. Harry Stuermer. 
George H. Doran Co., New York. 

45. "The Collapse of Superman." by William Roscoe Thayer. 
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, Mass. 

46. "The German Efficiency Myth," by Bennett Chappie. Chappie 
Publishing Co., Boston, Mass. 



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